Honestly, if it wasn't for listening to Dead Kennedys, MDC, the UK's Subhumans, Discharge, Crass, etc., as a kid, I dunno if I'd be here today -- against capitalism, that is. But a crowd of protesters singing along to "Do They Owe Us a Living?" by Crass would be pretty funny. I'd be tickled if it happened. Dunno how important it is to demos that we trot out Pete Seeger, though, because at least he has that sing-along quality. Just getting folks *to* a demo would be fine with me, or doing other kinds of organizing, like organizing tenants and that sort of thing.
Whistle while you work...
Labor geekily yours,
-B.
andie nachgeborenen wrote:
> I wrote to B.:
>
> There has been lots of "good left protest music"
done
> since the early 70s -- Springsteen, the Clash, Gang
of
> Four, etc., but stuff that is useful as an
organizing
> tool and usable as anthems like the songs in the
> Little Red Book or the great civil rights songs are
in
> another league altogether. No one is going to use a
> hip hop song to unify, inspire, or electrify a demo.
> You can't exactly sing along, any more than you can
to
> the songs on Sandinista.
>
> Maybe you are right about "young people," but I
don't
> see it with my kids or their friends.